Assignment Explanation

Interview

The purpose of this assignment is for you to obtain assessment information from a practicing teacher that cannot be provided by this class since we have a variety of majors. Ideally, you will interview your cooperating teacher. This will give you an idea of the assessment procedures that will be used during the student teaching semester and some practical ideas for the assignments required for this class. If the cooperating teacher is unavailable the next best option is someone teaching in your intended area of licensure with at least 3 years of teaching experience and at the level you will be teaching. The last option is a secondary teacher with at least three years of experience. University professor, school administrator, or an elementary classroom teacher would not be appropriate for this assignment. The types of questions you will want to ask:

> Are there any special issues that I need to be aware of in the assessment process for _____(subject)

> What types of grades are taken?

> How are they recorded?

> How do you assign report card grades? What is included in the grade? Do you round the grades up?

> What is the value/weight of each type of grade on the grading period report card?

> Do they offer extra credit/bonus points?

> How do they handle cheating? What is the most common type of cheating?

> How do they handle absent/tardy students and late work?

> What advise would they give a beginning teacher in relationship to assessment?

> You may ask them their philosophy (How can a student make a good grade in his/her classroom?) but it might be more productive to deduce it from the interview.

Practice Evaluation

The three major projects will be evaluated by three other students before the final copy is handed in. This will give the evaluating students examples to consider and it will help the student of the evaluated paper an opportunity make corrections. The draft copies must be typed. Student evaluations are a part of the participation grade and will be scored based on the effort demonstrated to find errors and make improvements. For example, if the final product is missing required information and it is not marked on the student rubric the student may lose points or if your assigned score is higher than the final score your participation score will be lowered by the difference in the two scores. The recorded score for the major project grade will be assigned by the instructor.

Grading and Report System

Assume that you are preparing for a new class. Give an explanation of the grading system you will use--similar to the syllabus for this course. What different types of grades will you record? How many grades of each type will you record? Begin with your grading philosophy (What is the purpose in grading in this class? How can a student do well in your class?) an outline of the grades for a grading period (semester/year) that will be taken such as test grades, homework, quizzes, projects. For general categories give the weight or total points given to be earned for each category and individual assignments. Describe how a final grade (letter or percent) will be calculated. You will also set up an electronic grade book for one grading period, 6 or 9 wks. The grade book will contain all the grade categories, category weight (if used), and the list of assignments for that grading period. It is understood that you do not know exactly how many grades you will take, so include a reasonable number. You do not need to enter more than one student name or grades. Save the file on disk. Indicate in the paper which electronic grade book you are using. (Include how you will deal with extra credit, bonus points, absences, projects, etc. Explain why this grading method is most appropriate for your anticipated situation. See Activity #1 - #11 on pages 232-233. See attached Rubric. Your grading and reporting system will be evaluated by three students. If possible, one or two of the evaluators will be certifying in the same subject area. You will be able to use their evaluations to improve the GRS before handing the assignment in for instructor evaluation.

Mini-Test

The topic selected for the test should be appropriate for a variety of question types. For the unit or chapter, state the objectives that you would evaluate in terms of observable student behavior. The cover page should contain your name, the subject, grade level, and your objectives. Each mini-test must contain the following question types: a) multiple choice items; b) true-false items; c) short answer or completion items; d) a matching set; and e) an essay item. You must write at least 3 items for each type a-c, at least one matching set of appropriate length and at least one essay item. The items must be organized into a test, with general directions for the test as a whole (where to put the answers, what additional materials may be used, etc.) and specific directions (how to answer the particular question type) for the item or items associated with each objective in the form you would administer to pupils. A separate scoring key must be provided indicating, 1) the objective being assessed, 2) the correct answers or desired characteristics of responses (short answer and essay question should have an acceptable response), 3) the points allocated to each item or section of the test, 4) the method you would use to assign a grade (number or letter), and 5) an explanation of the reasoning of the point allocations. See Activity #2 on page 140.

The mini-test will be judged in terms of factors such as the clarity of the objectives; the extent to which the behavior in the objective is appropriate to the test items; the quality of the items written, including clarity, succinctness, setting clear bounds on the response (essay); the grouping of items by type; the clarity of the directions for each section; the extent to which the scoring key includes likely responses and the specificity of the criteria provided to judge the essay response and the extent to which the above directions have been followed. The exam should be typed, easy to read (white space), and neat. See attached Rubric. The rough draft of your mini-test will be evaluated by three students using the above criteria. One or two of the evaluator must be certifying in the same subject area. You will be able to use their evaluations to improve the MT before handing the assignment in for instructor evaluation.

Performance assessment

Although there are other types of performance assessment (portfolios, products), in this assignment you will assess a process that the students need to be able to accomplish. Select a topic in which you will be able to evaluate the student performance throughout the process such as physical activity (evaluate the process of shooting a basketball foul shot, not basing the evaluation whether or not the student scores a goal) or a process (writing a term paper, evaluating the steps not just the final paper).

You must provide the following information: a) a description of the general behavior you will assess, the subject area and, the grade level at which it is taught; b) the purpose for which you are conducting the assessment (diagnosis, grading, etc.,); c) at least 5 but no more than 15 well defined, observable performance criteria that make up the important steps (the steps should be arranged in their likely order of occurrence) or observable behaviors; d) a rating method with a justification for the method; e) a method that could be used to obtain a single score for a pupil's performance; f) a description of the setting in which the observation will take place. See Activity #1 on page 189. It will take the form of a written paper with a sample of the rating method attached.

The exercise will be judged in terms of factors such as the behavioral clarity of the performance criteria, the format of the completed instrument, the suitability of the rating method for the identified purpose and the selected performance criteria, the justification of the rating method chosen, the extent to which the administrative setting permits good assessment of the behavior; and the method of determining a summed score. See attached Rubric. Your performance assessment will be evaluated by three students using the above criteria. One or two of the evaluator must be certifying in the same subject area. You will be able to use their evaluations to improve the PA before handing the assignment in for instructor evaluation.